Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
1
*
In 2003, the penetration rate of mobile phones became about 60% in Japan. It is said that maturity of this service may come soon. Especially, mobile Internet has grown very rapidly since 1999. Last year the number of subscribers increased by
8%. 48 million handsets are equipped with cameras as of March 2004.
90
70
50
30
10
Figure 1: Penetration of Mobile Internet
90
70
50
30
10
Mobile Phone
Mobile Internet
-10
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
-10
Source: 2004 White Paper, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC); p8
There is a high competition among three carriers, with four service brands:
DoCoMo, au, Vodafone, and TU-KA. NTT DoCoMo, Inc.(DoCoMo) and Vodafone
K.K.(Vodafone) use PDC, available only in Japan, for the second generation wireless services (2G), but they use global standard, W-CDMA, for the third generation wireless services (3G). Au uses cdmaOne for 2G and cdma2000 for 3G. TU-KA uses PDC for 2G, and it will not be likely to provide 3G.
* Tatsushiro SHUKUNAMI is a professor of Media Industry Management at the Institute of Media and Communications Research, Keio University.
3

100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
-20.00%
Figure 2: Number of Subscribers and Market Share
DoCoMo au Vodafone Tu-Ka
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004.11
Source: Telecommunications Carriers Associations (TCA) (November, 2004)
DoCoMo has been dominant since IDO Corporation (IDO) and Kansai Cellular Telephone Company (KCT), the competitive carriers, entered the market in
1988 and 1989 respectively. KDDI Corporation (KDDI) has one nationwide brand
“au” division, which merged with IDO, and another niche, secondary brand “TU-
KA,” specializing in a lower profile segment.
Vodafone brand was not well-accepted by Japanese consumers. Called as
J-phone before, it had gained the second position in the market in a short period, but by switching its brand name, Vodafone seems to result in running out of steam.
Figure 3: Growth Rate of each carrier
DoCoMo au Vodafone TU-KA Average
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004.11
-20.00%
Source: TCA (November, 2004)
Price competition occurs in several ways: Handset price, monthly charge discount, and communications charge discount. Currently most of the marketing
Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005 efforts are concentrated on the functional enhancements of handsets and network.
About 20% are frequent handset changers who don’t want to wait for more than one year, when carriers offer some discount for loyal subscribers.
Figure 4: Annual Subscribers Additions
DoCoMo au Vodafone TU-KA
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
-1000
-2000
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004.11
Source: TCA (November, 2004)
From 1996 to 2002, DoCoMo established market stability with the quality of handsets, network coverage, and brand power of the “i-mode.” Vodafone was strong in 2002 with the aid of camera phone including photo mail function. From 2003 to present, the “au” of KDDI has captured the majority of new subscribers by the attraction of such 3G services as ringing-tone download, video mail, and walk navigation.
Mobile digital content market has grown in proportion to the increasing number of the mobile Internet subscribers. According to the White Paper, which was just released by the Digital Content Association of Japan, total digital content market reached 2.15 trillion yen in 2003, and mobile digital content market reached
235 billion yen, 34% larger than that of 2002.
Figure 5 : Mobile Digital Content Market video music game character
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
2001 2002 2003 2004
Source: News Release of Digital Content Association of Japan, June 18, 2004 http://www.dcaj.org/news/news040618/news0618.html.
5

ITU (International Telecommunications Union) defines IMT-2000 (3G) as followings:
2 Mbps in fixed or in-building environment
384 Kbps in pedestrian or urban environments
144 Kbps in wide area mobile environments
Variable data rates in large geographic area systems (satellite)
Recommendation ITU-R M.1457 specifies five interfaces as standards:
W-CDMA, cdma2000, TD-SCDMA, EDGE, and DECT.
Cdma2000 1x was first introduced by SK Telecom of the Republic of Korea in October 2000. 1x Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), which offers faster service up to 2.4 Mbps, was also introduced by SK Telecom in January 2002. W-CDMA was first introduced by DoCoMo in October 2001 2 .
Figure 6 : Technological Paths to 3G
Source: ITU, IMT 2000 Project http://www.itu.int/osg/imt-project/docs/What_is_IMT2000-2.pdf
DoCoMo aggressively invested in the R&D for 3G, and it aimed to be the leader in the global 3G market. After its introduction in 2001, however, there were some technical problems found in network and handsets. Even loyal customers to
DoCoMo are not eager to change their handsets to 3G easily. Although more than seven million subscribers signed up for 3G (FOMA), it is still less than one sixth of the total DoCoMo’s subscribers.
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
DoCoMo still seems to believe that better technology may bring competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. Executives of DoCoMo often speak about the
High Speed Downlink Packet Access in 2005 3 as well as 4G before 2010.
KDDI chose U.S.-made 3G technology, cdma 2000, different from the European technology, WCDMA, which DoCoMo and Vodafone chose. KDDI found that the cdma could make a smooth transition from 2G to 3G, because of the backward compatibility within the cdma technology family.
Vodafone is the least aggressive regarding the 3G introduction, probably due to its global strategy. The company keeps a minimal market share in the 3G.
TU-KA already gave up on the 3G, when they didn’t apply to the competition for the 3G spectrum allocation in 1998.
Table 1: Types of 3G services in Japan
Carrier
DoCoMo au
Vodafone au
DoCoMo
Technical method
Service
Nickname
Start of service Maximum
Speed
W-CDMA FOMA Oct, 2001 cdma2000 1x cdma2000 1x April, 2002
384 Kbps
144 Kbps
W-CDMA
Cdma2000 1x
EV-DO
HSDPA
VGS
WIN
-
Dec, 2002
Nov, 2003
2005
384 Kbps
2.4 Mbps
14.4 Mbps
Source: NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Vodafone
Some companies intend to enter the 3G market as early as next year, using a newly allocated spectrum in 2GHz band and 1.7 GHz band. One company,
Softbank, demands that it seek multi-band spectrum allocation of 1.7Ghz in the combination with 800MHz, currently used by NTT DoCoMo and KDDI.
Let’s look at the profile of 3G subscribers. Traditionally, KDDI and Vodafone attract the younger generation than DoCoMo. For example, 50% of DoCoMo’s subscribers are more than 40 years old 4 . In contrast, 60% of 3G subscribers for KDDI are younger than 40 years old, and more than 60% of new EV-DO subscribers are younger than 30 years old 5 .
KDDI’s 3G subscribers have been using data services very often. While MOU
(minutes of use per user) goes down by more than 10%, the packet use jumped up more than double in a couple of years. (see Figure 7)
Mobile commerce has become popular, too, especially in the field of ringingtone download, ticket reservations, and goods for girls. KDDI recently announced that hundred million songs for ringing tone had been downloaded during the past
18 months 6 . The price per song and market size of the KDDI’s ringing-tone service are almost as big as those of Mac’s iTunes music store that attained 100 million downloads in early July 2004 7 .
7

Figure 7 : KDDI’s MOU and Data Use
Voice MOU Packet/Day
200
190
180
170
160
150
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
01
_1
Q
01
_2
Q
01
_3
Q
01
_4
Q
02
_1
Q
02
_2
Q
02
_3
Q
02
_4
Q
03
_1
Q
03
_2
Q
03
_3
Q
03
_4
Q
Source: Investor Relations, 2004, KDDI http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/ir/presentation/pdf/kddi_040428_e_main.pdf
Although DoCoMo’s 3G early adapters were not necessarily frequent users, they expect much higher ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) this year and next year. Since 2G (Mova) customers’ Data ARPU is already about 25% of total ARPU,
DoCoMo expects higher data usage by 3G customers.
Figure 8 : 3G ARPU of DoCoMo
Mova Voice Mova Data Foma Voice Foma Data
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2003 2004 2005
Source: NTT DoCoMo http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/corporate/investor_relations/business/fiscal_e.html
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
The following statistics show the KDDI’s current market position. Although
KDDI holds just above 20% market share in the subscriber base, it has 55% share in the 2004 subscriber addition, and it maintains 67% share in the 3G market, while dominant DoCoMo has been aggressively trying to catch up.
Figure 9 : 3G subscribers growth
DoCoMo au Vodafone
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
2001_12 2002_6 2002_12 2003_6 2003_12 2004_6 2004_11
Source: TCA (November, 2004)
DoCoMo and KDDI took different marketing strategies. While DoCoMo emphasizes its 3G’s technical advantages, such as high speed up to 384Kbps and video phone, KDDI promoted innovative and friendly services, such as ringingtone download and walk navigation. Since DoCoMo customers had to give up some of convenience associated with 2G, including best handsets with light-weight, small size, long battery life, and better camera, as well as one of the best quality network in the world, video phone function without enough receiving parties or 384Kbps speed sounds unsatisfactory.
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Table2 : Difference of 3G Marketing Strategies
Area Coverage
(Phone)
Area Coverage
(Data, Video)
Key services for promotion
Key target for internet access and key concept for promotion
DoCoMo
Not Perfect
New facilities not compatible with 2G
Not Perfect, sometimes worse quality than 2G
Video Phone
Video Mail
Video Download
PC
High Speed up to
384Kbps
Packet Discount for
3G only
Flat-Rate for high end 3G
KDDI
The same as 2G, because of compatibility with 2G
At least 64Kbps of
2G is guaranteed.
Result
DoCoMo users choose either 2 handsets, or stay in 2G
KDDI’s service is more stable.
Ringing-tone Song
(Chaku-Uta)
GPS
EZChannel
(Broadcast type)
Regular Hadsets
Packet Discount for
2G and 3G
Flat-Rate for EV-DO
Self-Access type services were accepted
DoCoMo’s 2G users are unhappy.
On the other hand, KDDI has been working with a market-oriented approach 8 . It has focused on informing their customers which applications they can provide. For example, KDDI doesn’t emphasize that their handsets are GPS compatible but that customers can use walk navigation function with voice instructions. It had refrained itself from calling 3G before they named EV-DO as WIN. Mr. Onodera, CEO of
KDDI, explained in a conference that KDDI intentionally avoided using technical words, either 3G or cdma2000 1x, for the 3G marketing promotion 9 .
DoCoMo was not successful in introducing 3G, although it had one-year advantage initially. Since DoCoMo had to invest in completely new base stations, communications network, handsets, i-mode servers, and other facilities, its 3G service quality and coverage were not good enough for quality-sensitive customers.
Mr. Tachikawa, CEO of DoCoMo, admitted that they were working to overcome three major defects of 3G ─ area coverage, terminal functions, and service applications 10 . DoCoMo has been working hard to get 10 million 3G subscribers by
March 2005.
Vodafone has been a real loser, due to its “wait and see” strategy. The reason
Vodafone was inactive in this important market segment can be attributed to either
UK headquarters’ strategy or the negative impact from DoCoMo’s failures in the earlier stage.
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
Many people think or ask which applications drive 3G market best. No clear answers are yet to be found. There are two ways to reach the hypothesis of killer applications. One possibility is through an innovation or revolution. If something that was considered to be impossible has become possible, people may jump into them. However, this is risky, because the value may not be recognized before innovators presented the price tag. Another way is through an imitation from the similar world. For example, mobile e-mail had a strong possibility because of the proliferation of PC e-mails.
Let’s look at the possible killer applications in both ways. A good example of a typical innovation is video phone. Three years have passed since DoCoMo introduced video phone in 2001. According to the research done by InfoPlant Inc., about half of the latest DoCoMo’s 3G handset users never used video phone, and only 12% use video phone regularly, at least more than once a week 11 .
While DoCoMo was successfully ahead of other carriers in the field of web/email and Java functions, it was less aggressive in introducing such innovative services as camera, GPS and ringing-tone songs. If consumers think the applications amazing or convenient, those applications would have bigger possibility of success.
Table 3: Customer Base of High End Functions
Carrier/
Function
DoCoMo au
Vodafone
Photo
Mail
33.5
million
14.8
million
12.2
million
Video
Mail
N.A.
13.4
million
3.6
million
Java
27.1
million
6.7
million
8.4
million
GPS
N.A.
10.1
million
N.A.
Ringingtone songs
N.A.
13.3
million
N.A.
Web/Email
42.6
million
15.3
million
13 million
Source: IT Media (2004), “DoCoMo ga Toppuni -10 Gatsu Keiyakushasuu, [Mobile Market
Report in October], November 8. http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0411/08/news075.html
Actively-utilized functions are still basic ones. Frequently-used functions include mail (e-mail, photo-mail, and video mail), web access, and download (music, and game), although carriers provide their customers more innovative functions.
11

Figure 10 : Used functions during the past one month
Source: Mitsubishi Research Institute, 9 th Mobile content/service research report, 2004 http://www.mri.co.jp/PRESS/2004/pr040616_icd01.html
Characteristics of applications are the followings:
(a) Video Mail
Video mail is one of the most popular applications, a natural evolution from photo mail. Although some of the video files have problems of transmission compatibility, usually it can be used easily anytime and anywhere. DoCoMo supports up to 100KB video file attachment, whose fee is 2 dollars at most. Video clips can be seen on PCs with the QuickTime version 6.5 installed. KDDI supports three types of 15-second video mails. A medium size of video can be sent by 50 cents.
(b) Video Clips
DoCoMo provides three types of video clips called “i-motion.” First one is a streaming type with the 384Kbps-packet switching network charged by the volume of information. Second one is a downloading type with 384Kbps. Third one is a streaming type with the 64Kbps-circuit switching network charged by minutes.
Communication fees may be very expensive, especially with the packet switching, as they are written in a catalogue.
KDDI provides 30-second video clips for 1x (regular 3G) customers and
3-minute video clips for 1x EV-DO (high speed 3G).
(c) Video Phone
On the Internet, some early adapters talked via PCs using special headsets and microphones. A video conference system has become useful, particularly in the
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005 global business meetings or e-learning systems.
However, video phone needs more efforts to remove technological and psychological obstacles. The compatibility of video phone terminals is not guaranteed.
In addition, most people have some psychological barriers to show their faces, because video phone may reveal more privacy than regular phone. Some people say that video phone may be attractive only for business usage or among intimate friends or family members.
On the other hand, Mr. Natsuno of DoCoMo predicts that video phone will be very popular soon, while a real-time TV tuner will not be very popular 12 .
(d) Broadcasting Type Video Programs
KDDI provides semi-broadcast type channels for entertainment exclusively to
1x EV-DO customers. Video programs are automatically transmitted depending on the customers’ subscription during the night, when KDDI’s network rarely becomes busy. The programs include news, movies, magazines, and educational materials.
(e) Walk Navigation
Most high-end handsets of KDDI have GPS capability. The first version of the service merely provided simple location information on the map. A new version, called “EZ NaviWalk,” offers the functions similar to those of car navigation equipments. The service includes a route map on the screen, automatic voice instruction, and automatic map scroll during walking. A few months ago, the MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) reported that they would promote an enhanced version of emergency call function with the GPS-capable phones. Other carriers will have opportunity of utilizing this technology soon.
(f) Ringing-tone song (Chaku-uta)
Chaku-uta (ringing-tone song/Master-tone), a trademark of Sony Music, is a service that enables users to download the master music into their mobile phones to set up the music as a ringing tone. It is the first service in the world that allows users to download a song from a CD and set it up as the ringing sound 13 . Yet, there are several problems to be solved. 1) Artist line-up is not enough. 2) Selection of songs is limited. 3) Sound quality is not as good as that of an original CD.
This service has been one of the driving forces for KDDI that attract new customers and make its 3G the most popular one in Japan. It took only 18 months for 100 million songs to be downloaded into mobile handsets 14 . Currently, 60,000 songs are ready to be downloaded on 134 sites.
This function was further extended into a convergence of radio and mobile.
Songs can be downloaded from a music server with one click, when customers with
FM receiver handsets find interesting songs on the FM program they are listening to.
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(g) High Speed Internet Connection
DoCoMo provides two types of Internet access cards: a regular PCMCI card and a stamp- size one for PDA. Their maximum speed is 384Kbps. DoCoMo will have developed a faster service by the end of next year. According to the company, the maximum speed will be 14.4Mbps, faster than an average DSL. KDDI began to offer higher maximum speed up to 2.4Mbps within 1x EV-DO service area.
Because the flat-rate fee doesn’t include the Internet access via PCs, individual customers prefer the flat-rate PHS data cards.
It is very difficult to predict which applications will be the best for the 3G.
However, key factors for a better service will require the balance of innovation, acceptability, and reasonable price. According to the June Report of the Mitsubishi
Research Institute on Mobile Users, video-related functions have good potential when customers decide to choose the flat-rate subscription.
While DoCoMo needs to make efforts on network infrastructure, service development, and enhanced handsets, KDDI can concentrate on developing new services and handsets, as 3G penetration nears 90%. DoCoMo and its manufacturers still have at least a few years to maintain equipments and handsets for both 2G and 3G.
Figure 11: Penetration of 3G in each carrier
DoCoMo au Vodafone Average
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2001_12 2002.6 2002_12 2003.6 2003_12 2004.6 2004.11
Source: TCA
The 3G technology itself is not necessarily a competitive advantage. Most of the customers are still waiting for their best 3G services that provide better qualities of network, more functions of handsets, lower charges, and reasonable access speed.
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
Probably that’s why only 16% of DoCoMo customers signed up for the 3G, and only 7% of KDDI’s 3G customers signed up for new EV-DO. The urgent issue for DoCoMo will be how it can identify their customers’ real needs, and KDDI’s issue will be how to keep its dominant position in 3G by upgrading its services and handsets.
Several new services and functions may become technically possible within a few years. The first type is to enhance communications capabilities, and the second type is to enhance terminal functions which are not necessarily related to communications.
The first type includes IP telephony, music download, and video distribution.
IP telephony will be supported either by inside of a company or by hot spots outside. Music download is a natural extension of music-related functions. Video distribution will be done either through on-demand download of video programs or through the multi-cast distribution of videos.
KDDI recently announced that they would introduce new EV-DO handsets which are capable of full music downloading in November.
15 Their handsets have an inside memory for 20 full songs to store. Additional storage cards are available, too. It may be able to compete with the very popular iPod.
DoCoMo seems to like the video distribution approach. In May, DoCoMo began the experiment of a satellite TV program distribution using 300 monitors with its 64Kbps-circuit switched service. In Norway, a public broadcaster offers free TV programs to mobile operators, while mobile operators charge downloading fee of between 30 to 50 euros to the customers 16 SK Telecom in Korea may begin to offer a direct satellite TV tuning function.
The second type includes IC card, Digital TV tuner, and file viewer. In July,
DoCoMo predicted electronic money functions as the killer applications for the coming five years. Electronic money has a history of failures, mainly because it is not as convenient as real money. A digital TV Tuner may work as stand-alone equipment or an interactive communication tool.
Although an analogue TV tuner was already supported by Vodafone, its reception is not good enough, especially while in motion. In 2005, Digital TV may overcome such technical defects, and it will probably become one of the best functions ever installed of killing time, when it will have a nationwide coverage.
KDDI and NHK announced that they developed a mobile phone terminal that receives digital terrestrial TV broadcasting 17 . A handset weighs 140 grams, and a battery can support two-hour of TV programs.
Lastly, let’s look at the next step of the flat-rate pricing. Some mobile carrier executives, especially financial officers, are not supportive for the flat-rate pricing.
They believe that the flat rate decreases their revenue. However, the flat-rate fee has two positive effects.
15

Figure 12: More frequently used services in case of flat-rate charge
0 20 40 60 80
News
Free Music
Download
Photo Mail
Free Game
Download
E-mail
Video Mail
Source: Mitsubishi Research Institute (2004). 9 th mobile content research report.
First, with the flat-rate fee, customers will use mobile handsets more often.
That may lead to more transactions through mobile Web, one of the objectives of the handsets with IC card capability. In addition, the flexibility of handsets software will increase by free downloading.
Second, the flat-rate fee will liberate the customers from frustration on cost and time. KDDI says that the flat-rate plan users subscribe more paid-content than volume-sensitive plan users. This means that flat-rate pricing may create a win-win business model for customers, content providers, and carriers.
Some issues remain to further develop the 3G market. One is how to evaluate current competitive situations. The MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) has set the mobile market analysis as one of its policy objectives this year. Incumbent carriers claim that they have decreased their charges as much as possible because of the competitive pressure. However, the CPI (Consumer Price
Index of mobile phone, published by Bank of Japan) shows just above 10 points decline from 64.9 in 1998 to 54.1 in 2003 18 . As a proxy of the price level, the average voice revenue per minute (AVRPM) 19 can be used as a proxy of the price level, too. Figure 13 shows the ten-year trend of the AVRPM in Japan. In 2001, price per minute decreased to almost one-third of that in 1995, while its 2004 prices per minute are only 10 to 20 % less than those in 2001.
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
Figure13: Average Voice Revenue Per Minute in Japan (AVRPM)
140 Yen/minute
120
100
80
DoCoMo au
60
40
20
0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Source: Annual Reports, NTT DoCoMo and KDDI
TU-KA, which has provided the cheapest options, is the only one service brand that has lost customers. This indicates that Japanese consumers prefer better products and services to cheaper yet worse products and services. However, other three carriers may have effectively secured their customers, possibly through the family discount plan, point program, as well as phone numbers. Carriers could avoid the price war by these high switching-cost factors. New technologies used in the 3G should be less expensive than that of the 2G, at least in the long run, since the data charges of the packet discount plan of the 3G are already down to onefifteenth of 2G data charge.
Figure14: Average Revenue Per Minute in the USA
$
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
ARPM in US
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Source: FCC (2004). 9th Annual CMRS Competition Report .
17

According to the 9 th Annual Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS)
Competition Report 20 of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S., a similar price decline curve can be seen as above, while the price level in the U.S. is much less than that of Japan. The differences of the prices between two countries mainly come from the fact that U.S. carriers usually give their customers unlimited use of minutes, especially night and weekends as well as mobile-to-mobile phone calls among their own customers.
Second issue is the spectrum allocation policy. Simply put, there are three types of spectrum. One is 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz band, mainly used for the 2G services by the incumbents. Another is 2 GHz band, exclusively assigned for the 3G services to three incumbents ─  NTT DoCoMo, au, and Vodafone. The other one is 1.7 GHz and 2 GHz band, which will be allocated to either incumbents or new entrants.
Table 4: Allocated Bandwidth and Spectrum Use Efficiency
Service
2G
3G
NTT
DoCoMo au Vodafone Tu-ka
800MHz
Band
1.5GHz
Band
Allocated
Bandwidth
Number of
Subscribers
Allocated
Bandwidth
Number of
Subscribers
58MHz
38 million
11MHz
N.A.
30Mhz
18 million
─
─
─
─
23MHz
15 million
─
─
20Mhz
4 million
2.0GHz
Band
Allocated
Bandwidth
Number of
Subscribers
30MHz
7 million
30MHz
N.A.
30MHz
26 thousand
Source: Current Spectrum Allocation to Mobile carriers, MIC, October, 2004
─
─
Several issues are under discussion in the study group of the Spectrum Usage
Development, established in October and finished in next January. Currently, all of the new entrants and incumbents request an additional spectrum, particularly new
1.7Ghz band and currently used 800 Mhz band. New entrants request spectrum exclusively for themselves, because an allocation of spectrum is crucial for their business as well as their promotion in a competitive market. In contrast, incumbents request more spectrums because the customers want upgrading to the 3G services, which will create more traffic of data and videos.
Softbank already sued the MIC for its favors to incumbent carriers on the spectrum allocation 21 . USTR (Office of the United States Trade Representative) seems
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005 to support the Softbank’s position in order to promote competitions in the mobile sector, emphasizing the technological neutrality 22 . One of the issues is the efficient usage of the current allocated spectrum. Although Vodafone claims that most of their customers will shift to the 3G services soon, only 2% of total subscribers actually use 3G phones. Au doesn’t use 2GHz band for voice communications even for
3G subscribers. Only NTT DoCoMo may use up the allocated 30MHz spectrum for
3G soon. Since there is no specific obligation of the 3G spectrum efficiency, either a reallocation of spare spectrum, a secondary use framework, or an obligation of
MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) support, should be considered, in order to save the scarce resources and to promote a healthy competition. This decision and the introduction of number portability scheduled in 2006 are crucial to the wireless industry and consumers in Japan.
In addition to the competition policy issues, a convergence between broadcasting and telecommunications may need a new regulatory and legal framework.
Broadband service carriers are transmitting broadcast-like services to households using optic fibers. As the digital broadcasting will begin as early as the end of 2005, mobile phones will be used as video terminals, regulated by both broadcast laws and telecommunications business laws. The balance of power on copyright issues will become important between of the right of fair use and the fine mechanism to prevent unwarranted copy of audio and video contents.
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1. Preliminary version of this article was presented in the 15 th Biennial Conference of
International Telecommunications Society, held in Berlin, Germany, in September 2004.
2. 3G Today. http://www.3gtoday.com/
3. Telecommunications(2004) .“Mobairu shijou 1 nengo wa koukawaru, [Mobile Market in
2005]”, July, p33
4. NTTDoCoMo Inc.(2004). i-mode no nenreisou [User Profile of i-mode].
http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/corporate/report/user/index.html
5. Investor Relations Presentation of KDDI (2004) . April 24.
http://www.kddi.com/corporate/ir/presentation/pdf/kddi_040428_main.pdf
6. Press Release of KDDI (2004) . “KDDI’s EZ “Chaku-UtaR” Breaks One Hundred
Million Downloads”, July 5.
http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2004/0709/index.html
7. CNET (2004). “Apple sells 100 million downloads”, July 12.
http://news.com.com/2110-1027-5265418.html
8. IT Media (2002). “Kouchou KDDI ni Senryaku wo Kiku, [Interview on Successful
Strategies of KDDI]” , July 4. http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/0207/04/n_kddi3g.html
9. IT Media (2002). “CDMA20001x wa Marketing Senryaku no Shouri, [Good marketing strategy made cdma2000 1x successful]”, July 18.
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/0207/18/n_kddi.html
10. IT Media (2003). “FOMA no 3 tsu no Kadai, [Three issues on FOMA]”, July 17. http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/0307/17/n_docomo.html
11. IT Media (2004). “900i no TV denwa, Hansu ga Ichidomo Riyou Sitakoto ga Nai,
[More than half of DoCoMo’s 3G customers never used video phone]”, July 5.
http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0407/05/news014.html
12. K-tai Watch (2004). “TV tuki Keitai wa dame daga, TV denwa wa fukyuu suru, [Mobile phone with TV tuner will not be popular, but Video phone will become popular.], July 29. http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/cda/article/event/19729.html
13. Press Release of KDDI (2002). “KDDI and Okinawa Cellular to Offer New Ring Tone
Service “CHAKU-UTA” and Two New Movie Mobile Handsets with Digital Camera and the Ring Tone Capability”, November 18.
http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/archive/2002/1118/index.html
Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
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Keio Communication Review No. 27, 2005
14. Press Release of KDDI (2004). “KDDI’s EZ “Chaku-UtaR” Breaks One Hundred
Million Downloads”, July 5. http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2004/0709/index.html
15. Press Release of KDDI (2004). “KDDI Launches EZ Chaku-uta Full TM
CDMA 1X WIN Mobile Music Distribution/Download Service”, October 13.
http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2004/1013a/index.html
16. BBC News (2004). “Norwegians try out TV on mobiles”, June 24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3829343.stm
17. Press Release of KDDI (2004). “KDDI Develops Cellular Phone that Receives Digital
Terrestrial TV Broadcasting”, May 12. http://www.kddi.com/english/corporate/news_release/2004/0512a/index.html
18. MIC (2004). White Paper, Information and Communications in Japan . p41. http://www.johotsusintokei.soumu.go.jp/whitepaper/eng/WP2004/Chapter2-2.pdf
19. Average voice revenue per minute is calculated by the following formula; AVRPM=
(Total ARPU ─ Data ARPU) / MOU. ARPUs and MOUs come from annual reports of
NTT DoCoMo and KDDI.
20. FCC (2004). 9 th Annual CMRS Competition Report . September 28, p A-11.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-04-216A1.pdf
21 Press Release of Softbank (2004) . “SOFTBANK Announces the Commencement of
Legal Action to Demand a Suspension in the Execution of the Draft Plan for IMT-2000
Frequency allocation in the 800MHz Frequency Band and the Formulation of a New
Allocation Plan, and Acceptance of New License Applications”, October 13.
http://www.softbank.co.jp/english/news/newsrelease/2004release/e041013_0001.html
22 USTR (2004). Annual Reform Recommendation from the Government of the United
States to the Government of Japan under the U.S.-Japan Regulatory and Competition
Policy Initiative . October 14, Annex-p5. http://www.ustr.gov/assets/World_Regions/North_Asia/Japan/Regulatory_Reform_Initi ative/asset_upload_file229_6538.pdf
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Federal Communications Commission. Report on State of Competition in the wireless industry, annual. Washington D.C.:Author. http://www.fcc.gov/
InfoCom Research Inc. Information & Communications in Japan 2004 , Tokyo: InfoCom Research Inc. http://www.icr.co.jp/index.html
International Telecommunications Union, IMT Project http://www.itu.int/osg/imt-project/
ITmedia Mobile. http://www.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/
KDDI Corporation. http://www.kddi.com/english/index.html
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).
2004 White Paper, Information and Communications in Japan , Tokyo: Author.
http://www.johotsusintokei.soumu.go.jp/whitepaper/eng/WP2004/2004-index.html
MIC. Jouhou Tsushin Hakusho (Heisei 16 Nen) [White Paper, Information and
Communication in Japan (2004)], Tokyo: Gyosei. http://www.johotsusintokei.soumu.go.jp/whitepaper/ja/cover/index.htm
Mitsubishi Research Institute. http://www.mri.co.jp/index.html
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/index.shtml
Office of the United States Trade Representative. Report to the Leaders on the U.S.-
Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative, annual. Washington
D.C.: Author.
http://www.ustr.gov/World_Regions/North_Asia/Japan/Section_Index.html
SOFTBANK CORP. http://www.softbank.co.jp/english/index.html
Telecommunications Carriers Association. Telecom Data Book 2004 , Tokyo: Author.
http://www.tca.or.jp/eng/database/annual/2004/index.html
3G Today. http://www.3gtoday.com/
TU-KA. http://www.tu-ka.co.jp/
QUALCOMM Inc. http://www.qualcomm.com/
Vodafone K.K. http://www.vodafone.jp/scripts/english/top.jsp